Masks and Masquerades
by Fading to Black
Summary: After the graduation of the Guardians, they all end up splitting up and moving away from Seiyo. Little does anyone know how absolutely wretched their timing is... Title is tentative.
1. Break Away

**Meyumi-chan: Hey yalls! So this has been written for awhile, and I thought I ought to post it. If nothing else, because I don't have a lot of time for such writing during school. And I know that This was third on the votes, but I'm having writers block on that half-done oneshot and Forever, as well as all the other half-written stories. This, like everything else, will likely be slow to update, but I'm not giving up on anything, even if I am doing something as idiotic as starting another story.  
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**Rima: Please don't tell me this is going to be another 'Missing'...**

**Meyumi-chan: *glares* This won't. I promise. **

**Rima: Good. Because you ... -is cut off by Nagihiko-**

**Nagihiko: Be nice, Rima-chan. Give Meyumi-chan a chance.**

**Meyumi-chan: Thank you Nagihiko! Now, onto the story!**

**Nagihiko: Meyumi-chan does not own Shugo Chara**

Break Away

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><p><em><span>Amu's POV:<span>_

I drummed my fingers lightly on the window frame of the car as I watched my friends fade into the distance. I feel like I should be used to it by now. I have moved rather often anyway, for so much of my oh-so-short life. But, somehow, it was harder to leave this town. Because I actually made friends? Because we made memories? Because...I'm not sure, but I watched Seiyo shrink in the small back mirror in the car until it was no more than another memory, a speck on the horizon.

_Flashback..._

_She walked into the Royal Garden with a feeling of dread. They were all sitting at the table-all of her friends. Even Utau was there, happening to be in town. She took her seat, put her head in her hands, and shut her eyes, waiting for the meeting to begin._

_Nagihiko, oh-so-perceptive Nagihiko, was always good at reading people. Especially with Amu. He noticed the sad dullness in her eyes, the nervous way she walked to the table. Not the jumpy nervous, but another sort profoundly different, and reeking of bad news. _

_Amu herself knew she had to tell everyone the news, and tell them today but... But she didn't want to muss up the peaceful bubble of happiness, friendship, rainbows and butterflies and unicorns they had created. Luckily for her, Nagihiko gave her the obvious way out._

_"Amu-chan, is something the matter?" Nagihiko asked her. "You seem a bit sad and distant."_

_"Yeah,"Amu muttered. Louder she said "I'm moving."_

But, I'm not the only one who's leaving Seiyo.

_"Papa needs to move for his job, and my cousins, Shuu and Eriko, want us to live closer to them."_

_Rima spoke up into the stunned silence that followed her statement. "I'm moving too. My parents finally just went and got the divorce." She paused to take a deep breath. "And after battles over who would have custody of me, my dad won. I have to live with him. But my mom owns the house here in Seiyo, so I'm moving." She sat back, looking as if a heavy weight were taken off her shoulders._

_Nagihiko's statement followed Rima's up closely. "I'll be gone for a bit as well. Nadeshiko's taking a tour around Japan. After that, we'll see."_

_Tadase spoke next. "And I won't be around very much-Tsukasa decided to take me to many of his astrological conventions, so I've been traveling a great deal, which should only continue._

_Utau put in her lot. "I'm always traveling because of my job, you guys know that. And Ikuto...is Ikuto. Looking for our father, as always. Convinced it's worth it." The last sentence held a note of bitterness._

_Yaya exclaimed "EHHH? Everyone is leaving Yaya! No!"_

_Kukai put an arm around Yaya. "I'm not going anywhere, Yaya. You can hang out with me all you want!"_

_Yaya smiled. "Thanks, Kukai."_

_Tadase retook charge of the meeting. "Then let's make this last meeting something to remember."_

And it was, I reflected. The Guardians had gone to Easter Corporation, and had a very interesting conversation with Hikaru and Kazoumi. That was, until my parents called my cell to tell me that I had to go home to pack. I had made sure that they knew where to be to say a final goodbye to me. And they all were there.

Even so, it wasn't enough. It couldn't be. For all that we had been through, it wasn't enough. All the X-eggs we had cleansed. All the fighting with Easter. All the searching for the Embryo. All the Character Changes. All the Transformations. All the intrigue of being a Guardian. I'll miss these friends, for sure. I'll try to keep in contact with them but, eventually and inevitably, the talking would taper off, and the friendships would be forgotten. I know it will happen, after all, it has happened so many times before to me. I can only hope they don't forget me, and believe in them. It's all I can do.

It was a three hour ride, including traffic, to where her cousin's house. It had been about a year since they got married, and Shuu and Eriko were expecting. I remember that wedding-and how I had caught the bouquet. By accident. Again. Still, Shuu-niichan was expecting a kid. A cousin._ My_ cousin. I can't believe it. It's impossible. Wait, not impossible. That's a terrible word. Just extremely difficult to believe. Shuu-niichan was also partly responsible as to why I was leaving Seiyo. He had asked all of his family to move close. He wanted the baby to know everyone.

Mama and Papa had decided to take him up on it, partly because Papa's job wasn't going well, and a change of surroundings and new birds could be a help. And so, we had all piled in the car, and just left. It had been a spur of the moment decision, but over time I have learned not to question such. Such was my life, always moving, everchanging. Moving itself was not horrible. It's the loss of my friends that hurts me most. Having been there two years, I'm going to miss my Seiyo friends more than some others I have left behind after other moves.

Eventually, I felt the car jolt to a stop, and turned from watching the window to see what was happening. I'd watched trees and houses and little, elderly women walking their pooches and little children play hopscotch. I had watched the world pass by, and somehow felt detached from it. That sense of detachment hadn't faded as my quasi-emotionless self stepped out of the vehicle, to my waiting family.

Only before I had made it quite that far, I was being smothered by white. I blinked as best I could as I realized that white belonged to a uniform. Which belonged to a the arms holding me, their body. Which happened to belong to a certain person...

"Amu-chan!" Said person's cheerful voice broke through my thoughts and I felt my face break out into a grin.

It had been a while-a year and a half-since I'd last heard that comforting voice in person. It had certainly been the most cheerful one I'd heard after I'd heard the news. "Shuu-niichan!" I heard my voice say. I mentally winced as the title reminded me of Tadase talking to Ikuto, and, by proxy, of Seiyo. Memories I intended to keep locked up until such a time when I could deal with them. It was really hard not to smile around Shuu, I redirected my thoughts. He was just like Kukai in that respect.

_Kukai._ One more of those memories to be put in that gently and lovingly locked box in the recesses of my mind marked 'Seiyo'. Even so, I realized with a flash, Shuu-niichan was a lot like my messy, brown-haired, emerald-eyed jock of a friend. Their personalities were nearly identical. At that thought I instinctively pulled away and decided the cobblestone floor was very impressive and interesting, and gave it a scrutiny.

"What's wrong, Amu-chan?" Mama asked worriedly, appearing next to me. At that point I realized I had been quiet too long.

"It's nothing." I said quickly, dashing Mama a fake smile, put I hand on my hip and looked away, this time gazing at the blue sky. My charas flew to me, screaming "Amu-chan!" If I hadn't turned around, I would have seen Shuu's eyes widen slightly. Putting a hand to my face, I whispered to them. "What's going on?"

In unison, they replied. "X-egg (~desu)"

I choked slightly in surprise , but turned it into a cough for the benefit of my family. Then I whispered back in a quick torrent. "An X-egg? Now?" I gave myself a mental shake, told myself to get a grip, and turned to my parents. "May I be excused?"

Mama replied "Sure!" before Papa even had his mouth open. Still, his curiosity was not sated and I heard his whispered question to my mom even as I left. Mama smiled at him as she replied "You don't ask a girl when she needs to use the ladies' room."

I rolled my eyes, content that they wouldn't see as I left. Shuu also had slipped away at the same time, saying he couldn't stay away from work too long.

The X-egg was in the nearby woods, so I had just crossed through the floor and come out the other side. I heard Shuu follow me, but I said nothing. I didn't dare look back at him, so I ignored him, and eventually he stopped following me.

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><p><em>Shuu's POV:<em>

I stopped in the cover of a tree. Whatever Amu was doing, it was certainly something she didn't want me to see, so if I gave her that privacy, maybe I'd find something out. Maybe it had to do with those disembodied voices I'd heard near her before. I don't believe in ghosts, but that evidence sent a tingle down my spine and increased the furor of my already-raging curiosity.

She stopped only a few feet away, facing a levitating egg-shaped black object with the letter 'X' printed in white on the front. That had to be the 'X-egg' from before. Either way, something was wrong with that object, but I had no idea what it was. It just emanated evil intent, somehow. Another disembodied voice came, somewhat different from the ones before.

"Muri!" It shrieked as some sort of force lashed out at Amu. The force was not visible, but she threw up her arms and grunted, with squeals in the vicinity with the same voices I'd heard originally. Then another impossibility happened as something near or on Amu seemed to shimmer with the brightest light. It turned out to be her locket, I saw as a freak gust of wind took it off her chest. Then it glimmered blue and Amu was encased in a light ever brighter.

Her words were a whisper as my ears strained to catch them. "My heart, unlock!" was what I had picked up. But that didn't make sense. However, it apparently did something as the light turned to the brightest purple, streaming golden stars, as Amu disappeared from view. When she emerged, her outfit had changed. Her voice said "Character Transformation, Amulet Spade".

I looked at the sight before me. My cousin was clad in blue, from head to toe. Her blue beret covered her hair. She wore a sort of shirt that looked like a baby blue tank-top with attached sleeves in the same color with frilly embroidery to encircle where it ended, near her fingers. Darker blue shorts similarly connected to high socks, near her usual style but white-and-blue striped instead of the red plaid she wore with her school uniform. Even her shoes were blue, and she carried a darker, dull blue paint brush.

Questions flitted about my mind in that instant. What_ is character transformation? What is Amu doing?_

Amu's next actions snapped my thoughts out of my forebrain and I turned back, entranced, as she changed her stance. A crack showed in the egg shape, slowly growing until a black humanoid adorned only with an 'X' on their forehead poked out of it, the egg halves disappearing as mysteriously as it had come.

Her next quote heightened my view of the seriousness of the situation. She had been talking more quickly and less loudly than before so I only caught "Crap...Miki...bathroom...X character!".

X character? I thought that had to be the humanoid. I thought I saw a green and a pink thing situating itself by Amu. Was that where the disembodied voices had come from? I squinted at them, a memory that seemed to be from a time I couldn't place flitted about my mind, but I couldn't pin it down, frustratingly.

I looked back just in time to see Amu twirl the oversized paint brush. "Colorful Canvas!" She half-shouted as she pointed it at the small blackness on the other side of the clearing. A wave of rainbow shimmering congealed color gripped at the X character. It held it in place and its egg once again encased it, and still held it after wards.

The paintbrush disappeared into thin air and even through my detached thoughts, disbelief colored my face as I watched my baby cousin wield some colorful weaponry I'd never heard of before that had come out of (and disappeared back into) thin air. If it hadn't then, it certainly did with the next happening. The X character projected a semi-transparent projection of a child, perhaps 10, curled up about her knees. "It's no good. I can't sing. All my friends are really awesome at singing, but I can't sing at all! I'm a failure! Singing's impossible!"

Amu spoke gently to the child's projection. "Well, I've never heard you sing, but I'm sure its great! No matter whether it is or it isn't, if you practice and determine to get better, you certainly will! Singing's not impossble. Nothing is!"

The child was obviously affected by Amu's little pep talk, I mused. Her eyes met Amu's longingly for a second, before they returned to her knees. Amu nodded and put up her hands to form a heart. "Negative Heart, Lock On!" The X egg squirmed even more in the rainbowy stuff's grasp. "Open Heart!" Another bright light, again tinted with blue, opened the air, and I closed my eyes against it in wonder. When I did open my eyes again, the X egg was gone and Amu was back in her normal clothing and scurrying off in another direction, with green, pink, and blue somethings following her.

I heard a voice from her direction say "I wonder what they'll say to you spending so long in the bathroom again!" I vaguely heard three different chuckles and Amu's annoyed voice calling out "Miki!" telling them to shut their mouths.

Miki? Who's Miki? One of the fast-moving figures that clung near Amu? I blinked once. Twice. Thrice. And then I shook my head as if to clear it and walked back to the building, angling for the kitchens. One last call brought me back to Amu.

"Ran!" She called out. A voice replied energetically, but I couldn't make out the words. "Character Change!"

A higher-pitched voice, that same energetic one most likely, replied. This time I could make out the words, even though they made little sense. Then again, this whole business was some sort of impossibility-a mere dream, right? "Hop, Step, Jump!" And Amu's hands were covered by pink pompoms and wings appeared on her arms and shoes as she jumped high, clear of the trees, and disappeared into the distance.

Unable to control myself, I let out an agonizingly disbelieving scream. "EHHHHHHHHHH!" permeated the forest for a good six seconds before I filed the incident in that folder in my head, right next to the file on the egg that had randomly appeared some time before, with green and red markings. they had to be similar-impossible and involving eggs. I couldn't go back to the kitchen, as I could not look at an egg the same way after that and now this, but I had to get out of the open. Storm clouds clouded the horizon, and I didn't want to get drenched when the rain broke into its freedom.

I hurried back to the spot I had left the Hinamori family with an expression of surprise that I couldn't quite stifle.


	2. Lofting Secrets

**Meyumi-chan: I never realized how difficult it is for someone who (like me) tends to write everything in third person. I've tried to comb through it all to turn it to first person, but I'd appreciate it if when I've missed something, you PM me to point it out. Thanks! Also, with the way this is going, I'll be** **able to write Rima's plotline soon. I think the next one will be Amu's POV, then Rima. This is really short, I know, but sometimes that's just how it comes out.  
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Keeping Secrets

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><p><em>Shuu's POV:<em>

I was soon back with the Hinamoris, but everything that happened after the incident seemed to fold back into an unavoidably curious daze. I'd practically sleep-walked into a door before I realized that I wasn't there anymore. Feeling more clear-headed after a glass of juice, we went home. I needed to finish that cake, and get to the bottom of that mystery. Why was Amu there anyway? What were those miniature humans?

What happened earlier...I can't get it out of my head. Why? How? What actually happened? Am I just a delusional insane? That's probably it, a logical part of me says, especially since I claim to see floating faeries. Or so is the best description of the charas I could pull up in case I ever had to tell anyone. Even so, another part of my head was nagging at me that something was off, that I stumbled upon something that was indeed going on that no one knew about. After all, I saw that egg, didn't I? Delusional or crazy, huh. And homesick. Maybe I miss the constant fighting next to my friends?

The reminiscence faded to black as the stove beeped and the cake I had made finished. It was a welcome gift to Amu and her family, and I had to be sure it was awesome for them. So I decorated it, and hopped back over to their house with Eriko to celebrate their arrival.

That time soon came, and everyone enjoyed the chocolate cake with the vanilla filling, garnished with more vanilla-type things, some colored green. It was a beautiful cake, and the rest of them had trouble keeping Uncle Tsumugu from drooling all over it. I shudder at the image. They had moved into a house across the street from my apartment, so there had been no rush to get home. We'd talked for hours, at least Aunt Midori, Uncle Tsumugu, and Eriko did.

Ami had gone off and played with her toys as soon as Aunt Midori told her to go unpack. Amu, on the other hand, went to her room. I followed her after she left, under the pretext of going to help her. In reality, I had too many questions and not enough answers about what had happened. However, when I got to her room, it was empty. Frowning, I looked around. Amu had gone into that door less than a minute ago.

On a whim, I looked out the window. Sure enough, a harried looking Amu could be seen as a flash of pink hair on the street below. The same high pitched voices were audible, and I frowned. Was she going to do it again, the same thing as yesterday? I sat down on one of the unpacked boxes and pulled out the off-white egg. It was odd: it was both like and totally unlike any of the eggs that I'd seen. I replaced it in my pocket and returned downstairs. Amu was dealing with some sort of mystery, and I was going to get to the bottom of it.

And so I was sitting on that box, staring into space, when Amu flew in the window. I had seen a few blurs of white which I supposed were more eggs and took that as a cue that she'd be coming back soon to put away my own egg. For some reason, I didn't want her to see it. It was _my_ secret, and no other's. After all, they say that a secret is not a secret when a second person comes to know of it.

At first, she didn't see me. I took the moment to study the blue, green, and pink humanoids floating in the air by her head. They seemed to be little girls, and I recognized their voices. Then it struck me from where-they were the same ones I had heard with Amu just a few hours earlier. I blinked and stood up, opening my mouth. By then, Amu must have detected me in her peripheral vision, because she turned to me and froze, face and eyes displaying her encompassing shock at seeing me here.

Suddenly, I wonder if I've made a mistake in letting her see me here. In letting her know I know._ It's not exactly something that can be taken back,_ I thought. Aloud, I asked her simply and directly, "What were you doing?" She opened her mouth, and snapped it shut. "Before you entered in the window, I mean. "

"I-I was curious about how high up we were, so I tried to climb down and back up again. It took a while." She finished, a bit lamely. Where did she learn to lie like that? The Amu I knew couldn't tell a lie with a straight face. Even though this Amu wasn't great at lying, she obviously had had some practice. Instead I just stared at the green one. She looked like a patissiere, with her little apron, twirling around with a whisk in her hand.

She stopped just short of my nose, and I flinched backwards. Too close. She cocked her head sideways. "Amu-chan, I think he can see us.~desu" The little girl said matter of factly.

I looked at Amu. "Who is 'us'? And why wouldn't I be able to see them, whatever they are?"

She just looked at me, slack jawed for a moment. Then she shook her head in disbelief. "Please don't tell anyone about these guys... By the way, do you have a chara too? " She asked.

"He has an egg, Amu-chan." The blue one looked up from a sketchpad.

"An egg! Yay! We'll have a new friend! Yay! What will he be like?" The pink one sprung up, waving around even smaller pom-poms and berating me with questions. I smiled at her. A new friend? Chara? What ever did that mean? I just sat, nodding at the overly energetic pink one as Amu started to slowly unpack the boxes around us.


	3. Awkwardness

**Meyumi-chan: Grr. Now that I've managed to delete this story half a dozen times in the writing of it, I suppose its finally getting done. This is the last chapter of Amu's POV before I start on Rima's. Sorry for taking so long! I'll be better about this story, I promise!****  
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Awkwardness

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><p><em>Amu's POV:<em>

Shuu and I unpacked boxes until dinnertime. There was little speech between the two of us, except for me telling him where to put things. It may be a new town, a new house, but I wouldn't let anything change my room. It took forever, and I was wondering if it would have been faster to just do it myself. Not to mention less awkward. Shuu had never been inside my room at Seiyo, so he didn't know where to put anything. It would suffice to say that it was a messy and failed venture.

It was very weird because Shuu was usually very uppity and the two of us could go on talking for hours on end. We'd always been extremely close, but I think he was mad at me for the charas, and keeping them from him. On one level, I couldn't blame him. Then again, I also didn't know he could see them, and I still couldn't be sure he wouldn't go to my parents about them. My parents certainly couldn't see them, so they might think I've got a mental illness or something. Hopefully they'd chalk it up to an overeager imagination. Hopefully. Even so, what about Shuu? He could see them. He knows I'm not crazy.

But I lied to him. Or at least, didn't tell him about them. How could I? Shugo charas were a secret because most people couldn't see them. No one wanted to be sent to the mental asylum for babbling about floating, flying humanoid little girls and boys that were just longer than your hand when fully extended. I knew he had that egg because of the incident that happened on his wedding day, but I hadn't known that it had come out of his heart.

Why didn't Ran sense it? Or Miki, or Su? Or were they just too distracted, and not expecting to see any guardian characters? Or did they just think I knew already, somehow? A flash of memory came, and I remembered Eriko and Shuu's wedding. The x-chara that destroyed the cake. Shuu's x-chara. _Oh, god. _So _that _was it.

I slammed down a box that happened to contain the contents of her desk drawer a little too hard. Shuu looked up questioningly. I shook my head slowly. "It's nothing." Shuu sighed and sat on my bed, propping his feet on an unopened box marked 'Clothes', patting the area on the bed next to him. I hesitated for a moment, but then went to sit.

"How long?" Shuu had his one hand in his pocket and the other supported him as he leaned back. He was watching Ran's antics. When he started to talk, all three of them looked up. Seeing Shuu and I, they flew over to sit next to me.

So that was it. Interrogation time. "Since I started fourth grade at Seiyo. That's when these three came along."

"Why didn't you tell me or someone?"

Crossing my arms, I replied curtly. "I did tell someone. Just not you. Or my parents or Ami. What would you think if I had told you? That I was delusional, and probably not of the right mental health? So no, I didn't tell anyone that couldn't see them for themselves. And to be honest, they sought me out because of them. Besides, if you couldn't see them, why would it matter? The last time I saw you, you could only hear them, and not see them. What changed?"

He looked at the floor for a few moments, tracing the edges of the box lightly with one foot. One of the hands in his pocket came out. I saw his egg then. It was the same one that had appeared after the x-egg incident. I smiled inwardly, glad to see that it had come out, and not been washed away.

"Why is it an egg?" Shuu's voice cut through the hazy silence, and I had to think for a few seconds before I understood the question. I opened my mouth to start explaining, but then thought better of it. I still had Tsukasa's book from that night, the one about hearts' eggs that I looked at when I first became a Guardian. Tsukasa had not wanted it back when I had tried to give it to him. The guy was weird. Maybe he knew something about that I'd need it for this?

That was not something to think too hard on.

I stood up and hunted around packed and sealed boxes for a moment, reading labels. When I reached the one marked 'School Books' that I had tossed Tsukasa's book into, I opened it and started to rustle around. It was nearly on the top, which was good since I didn't have to dig too far and muss up my other books.

I handed the book to him. "Read this. They gave it to me to read right after the girls were born." Speaking of the girls, Su and Ran were once again flying around the room. Miki was talking to Dia's egg. I watched the latter for a moment. Then I walked over to the box I had been working on before the conversation and started to work on it again.

There was no telling was Shuu would do now that he had the book. I pushed the now-empty box away and went back to the school books one. After staring at the book for so long, he started to read it aloud. Just as I had done two years ago. "The Heart's Egg."

I stopped working and listened to the words I knew by heart. Then Shuu came across Hikaru's ripped page. "Hey, the page's ripped out!"

The page had been blank before. The ripped out part still carried the same message, but it wasn't the one typically brought to mind when one came across it for the first time. In fact, unless you knew the whole story like I did, you probably wouldn't grasp that meaning. Shuu obviously didn't. So I told him part of it-more than anyone had known to tell me. "Now, Now. That's just how that story is."

Shuu opened his mouth, but I beat him to the punch. "Take some time to think the book over, Shuu-niichan. Keep it until then. Don't come back until you have." The last part was pushing it, but it wasn't like me and the Guardians. I hadn't known about their charas until after Ran hatched. I hadn't read the book until after Miki. I hadn't talked about it with them until after Miki either because I didn't know them so well then.

But Shuu-niichan knew me very well, and there was no telling when his unnamed-guardian-character-character would show up. I remembered his blue hair and his mixing bowl, and hoped as Shuu walked out of the door that he would come out soon.

I had one more day before i started school. After unpacking until I felt exhausted, I slept dead to the world, and I didn't wake up until late.

I hoped Shuu's annoyance had abated and that he would continue to help me unpack, but strangely there had been no sign of Shuu all day. There were also no x-eggs, which was good. I'd also had a short conversation with Kukai and Yaya, who told me that they were doing okay.

I laid out my uniform for the high school. It was a dark blue skirt with dark yellow and darker red plaid and a navy blazer and white button-up to go with it. I was tired, so I pushed these off onto my chair and sank onto my bed, nervous about another new school and another new town.

I stood almost awkwardly in front of the school the next morning. I had opted to walk since the school was only two blocks from home. I had enough experience with being the new kid, but it really wasn't that that was worrying me. The only other school I had been in with the girls was Seiyo, and the Guardians had found me, not the reverse.

To put it frankly, I didn't know how having the charas at all would affect my school life now that I wasn't in Seiyo. It wasn't like that was insubstantial in Seiyo. Much the opposite, actually. I guess it was just nervousness at lack of experience in that area that really put my fist in my throat. Well, there was nothing I could do about it so I would just ride it out and see where that took me. It wasn't like there was anything else I could do.

My new schedule crinkled in my hand as I walked the halls, searching for room 1-B. Sixth graders were all assigned rooms with the number 1. I took a deep breath once I found it, and walked in to my new homeroom.

Three kids were standing at the front of the class, with a badge on their sleeves that I would come to hate in a few days. For now, though, they were just a marker that set them apart. The teacher smiled at me as I walked in. "Are you our new student?"

"Umm, yes."_ No matter how many schools I go to, I still get that nervous starting stutter. Drat. _I chuckled. It sounded like something Miki would say about me, given the chance. "I'm Hinamori Amu. Nice to meet you!"

I was seated in the middle of the row by the windows because that was one of the two seats left, and the other one was all the way in the back corner. That's when I realized that they were choosing class council members. Four people-two girls and two boys-stood at the front of a class, and a third boy was making his way up.

These people had all evidently come from the same elementary school, possibly the same class. They all knew each other. That much was obvious. Cliques were very obvious to the experienced eye, even in a group she didn't know. Which was why I was surprised and confused to hear my name called out. My head swiveled. The voice was one of the girls from the front of he room. "Hinamori Amu!"

One of the other boys called my name again. "Hinamori Amu?" Seeing that he got my attention, the same boy continued. He had really dark brown hair that couldn't be called black around a narrow face and blue eyes. Looking closely, I noted that though he was a bit on the short side, he wasn't a sixth grader. He was actually a year older than Kukai and in eighth grade. "Since you're the only new kid to come here in a few years, we'd like you to get a better feel for this place. We're all quite friendly, and we'd like to get to know you better and-"

One of the girls, light brown frizzy-curly hair falling out of a ponytail, elbowed the long-winded guy in the stomach. "And, so you're going to sit in on a few Council meetings to see how things work around here. Congratulations." The boy didn't smile. I guess he's not the type to.

Then I realized that they were still staring at me, as if waiting for a response. I tried to suppress my embarrassed flush, and pretty much succeeded. "Yeah, thanks." I didn't meet their eyes. "Where will they be?"

"The stone benches by the flowers outside of school in the back is where we meet, but we typically don't stay there. But you'll find out about the rest of it when you come, Hinamori-chan! By the way, I'm Iwagawa Hanako." Frizzy-hair grinned at me. I felt myself smiling. Her enthusiasm was contagious.

"I'll be there, Iwagawa-san. Nice to meet you."

I heard the blue-eyed boy cough at Hanako, but she beat me to the punch. "Now, now, Omori-chan. I'm just introducing myself to Hinamori-chan!" She turned back to me, winking. "Don't worry, Hinamori-chan. He's not as stuffy and holier-than-thou as he seems." She looked at the clock. "Oh!" She exclaimed as the dismissal bell rang. Students quickly started to leave, chattering. Over her shoulder, she called out to me. "Meet us there tomorrow, okay Hinamori-chan?"

I smiled at her "Yeah. I-" I stopped as I lost sight of her. I sighed to myself and packed up my own things. The rest of the day was not really important. They were right-these kids really didn't know how to deal with new kids. Though it was weird. They were weird. The kids all seemed to be a bit sluggish and out of it. I shook it off as lazyness, but the classes really weren't that different from mine at Seiyo. I made up my mind to ask the Council about it when I saw them and put it out of mind.

There were three x-eggs in a cluster that I had to take care of, but that hadn't been anything special. I was looking forward to seeing Hanako and her friends tomorrow, I realized. They seemed to be a lot like the Guardians.

Them in mind, I texted Rima. She texted back saying that she was on the road, and that she was glad that I was talking to her because her dad was not very talkative. Tadase had apparently already left the night that I did, and that Nagi was supposed to leave Seiyo in another five days. That she missed Yaya a lot already was obvious. They were extremely close, especially after the getting-locked-in-Tsukasa's-tunnel incident. And there hadn't been any x-eggs since I left.

I told her about Shuu and the five x-eggs I had seen so far. I mentioned the Council how they wanted me to join in on their meetings. I touched upon Hanako. We spent some time talking over how we missed each other and memories from the last year until Rima had to go because she forgot to charge her cell phone so it had a low battery situation.

The homework was difficult but not impossible so I finished it and just lay back on my bed thinking. I had some more boxes to unpack, and I still have yet to see Shuu. Actually, I was getting a little worried about him, but I guess he just needs some time. I refuse to rush him, especially with my memories of how hard it had been to accept pretty fresh in my mind. I decided that if he hadn't come to me by tomorrow afternoon, I would seek him out.

And I still had to figure out what the Council's deal was. I mean, it seemed a bit off that a student council would invite a new student to their meetings just because they were the new student. Of course, it could easily be what just it seemed, but after everything in Seiyo I could only think of these things as riddles. Easter could easily have been what it seemed, or the Guardians. There was no outward reason for there not to be. Then there was also the conversation I had had with the girls after school.

_"Amu-chaaaaaannnnnnn!" Ran jumped out of her egg. "Did you see them?"_

_I turned to her. "Ran! What's wrong? See who?"  
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_Su jumped out of her egg at that moment, followed by Miki. "There were other guardian characters there. ~desu" Miki nodded.  
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_"Other guardian characters?" I kept walking on the grassy stretch of lawn in front of the school. "I didn't see any. Let's keep an eye out. Okay?"  
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I'd gotten murmurs of agreement from the three of them, and we had followed with a less serious conversation and bantering session. Which was when we found the x-eggs and got tangled up in purifying them. Something had been odd about those too, but I couldn't put my finger on it._  
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Or maybe I was just antsy about moving to a new town, especially with all the weirdness in the last town I had lived in. Well, once is a coincidence they say. I pushed my face into my pillow and turned out the light. If it was still weird, I could figure it out tomorrow.


	4. Another New Beginning

**AN: You, if there are still readers for this story, have my friend to thank for not taking months this timer. Yay! Though I'm not going to be around very much soon, since I'm going away.  
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**Also, please bear with the OCs. Logically, if someone moves to a new place they will meet new people. Hence the OCs. If you think they are Mary Sues or Gary Stus, don't hesitate to tell me. Please.  
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Another New Beginning

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><p><em>Rima's POV:<em>

I settled further into my plush seat as I ignored Kusukusu's pins flying through the air. Amu had seemed happy enough, though somehow that made me sad. I reminded myself again that no matter how much I missed someone I was not going to wish ill for them and shut my eyes. I must have dozed off because by the time I opened them again my vision was hazy and the car was rolling to a stop. I blinked to clear my sleep-crusted eyes as Dad unbuckled his seat belt. "Rima, we're here."

"Yes." I replied, almost curtly. I shook myself. If there was one thing I remembered from Amu, it was that I should be better about how I dealt with my parents and maybe they would think a bit more about how I wanted things. I doubted this, but it was a good thought for the moment.

I took a second to study the house. It was large, and very much like the one i had just left. A wealthy suburban home. Amu, I checked, lived just over a half hour from here in the next district over. Seiyo, though, was not quite a stone's toss away. I walked through the open door and up a set of stairs. I saw two rooms recognizable as bedrooms. One of them was empty. I went and sat on the bed, waiting for Kusukusu to drift in after me.

The first thing I unpacked was my cell phone charger. Then I called Amu again. I got an answering machine, so she was probably chasing an x-egg or something.

X-eggs. I felt a chill having nothing to do with the temperature rustle my spine. Amu could cleanse eggs, yes. So could Utau. But no one else could, except for me and Nagi and Nagi wasn't here. I don't particularly feel like breaking them. Not after Easter. Or seeing Open Heart for the first time during the ball competition. There was no way.

So how would I deal with them?

I sat back on the bed again, sinking into it. Something...something about Amulet Clover, was it? Didn't Amulet Clover have an attack besides Open Heart that could cleanse x-eggs? I filed the errant but possibly helpful thought to the back of my brain and reconciled myself to ask her when she called me back. Meanwhile, I had school tomorrow and some boxes to unpack. Not too many-I didn't decorate my room a lot. But some.

At one point my dad and I ate an awkward dinner, and I slumped into bed exhausted, brain dead, and unpacked.

My new school uniform was an ironed tan shirt and a dark forest green skirt that was a little bit longer than the one at Seiyo, but not overmuch. I put it on, downed a glass of orange juice, a banana, and soggy cereal, and raced out the door. It seemed that the progress Amu's argument had made with my parents, to let me walk to school on my own was undone, and Father's car was honking its horn at me until I opened the door.

There was nothing unexpected in school that day. It was an assembly, but everyone just talked and talked until the final bell rang. I made no friends, but that was to be expected. Not everyone could be as much of an effortless extrovert as Amu. I knew that I certainly wasn't, though I'm not quite sure that that's a fault in me. I got the usual boy-slaves I remembered so well, but the joy from that was hollow. I kept thinking about what Amu said to me about them, and what she had said to Shuraiya that time.

Amu was my first real friend and her and Yaya both did a lot more for me than I ever let on. But I felt their absence like weights on my back. In the privacy of my own home, I read the newest Bala-Balance, but all I could think of was when Amu lent me the copy of the then-newest one, or when I introduced her charas, herself, Yaya, and Pepe to the manga. I shut it away. The last thing I needed now was to be drowned in memories.

I took a walk. This town supposedly had a park-I had heard some girls talking about it in school-and I was going to find it. Unfortunately, it was obvious. I meandered around a while, trying to get in a bit of thinking on my walk. Eventually I just sat down on one of the benches and watched Kusukusu's antics.

I didn't notice that there was another person near us until they talked. "Hey, you're the new, kid aren't you?" The shadow was almost halfway over me as it took another step in my direction. "Hey, you can hear me, can't you? Or are you too focused on that little clown-girl to hear me?"

I felt an immediate dislike for this guy, but I kept it out of my face. Kusukusu is not and will never be a clown. I looked up at him. Short black buzz cut, small eyes and a smallish nose. By his shoulder was a guardian character. It wore a baseball hat and a uniform, though his blue hair made me think of Miki for a moment. No, this guy's hair was lighter. Much lighter.

I noticed because Kusukusu immediately drifted to the new chara with a huge smile on her face. The chara smiled back at her, holding out his hand for her to shake. Before she could make the movement to do so, however, she was flicked out of the air by the nameless small-eyed boy. I clamped my lips on a squeak of disbelief as I skidded forward on my knees to catch her. Once I did, I glared up at the boy who did it.

But I didn't have to say anything. That was because by the time I looked up the boy had a chara-sized hand print on his face that was rapidly reddening. The chara was yelling at the boy. "Ryashiro-chan! That was mean. You'll never be able to get other people to understand you if you aren't nice to them!" The chara smiled at me. "Sorry. Ryashiro lost his manners for a moment. Is your chara okay? I'm Hiroshi!"

I smiled back at the reassuring chara. _Help, huh. _Kusukusu floated up from my hand to land in my hair. "I'm fine! Thanks, Hiroshi-kun! I'm Kusukusu." Kusukusu laughed her usual laugh, and I felt the annoying boy's eyes on me again.

"Why is your chara so stupid?"

A larger hand than a chara bonked him on the head before anyone could say anything. "Geez, Miyazaki-kun. No need to be so blunt." A girl with short blonde hair connected to the fist. An instant later, our eyes met. Hers were an odd combination of dark purple with magenta around the edges. Smiling eyes.

I forgot about the boy, Miyazuki Ryashiro, until he had to open his big mouth again. "Hey Toshima, what's the big idea?"

We both ignored him. She put out her hand to help me up. "Hi! I'm Toshima Shizuka. I'm a student leader at the middle school with Miyazuki-kun. Who are you?"

"Mashiro Rima."

"Are you from around here, Rima-chan?" She seemed nice. I took her hand and pulled myself up, breaking the eye contact.

"I'm new." I started to walk away. Kusukusu had drifted over to a tree where there were several charas. Besides Hiroshi, there were three other charas. I didn't pay them much mind. Unless I missed my guess, one of them belonged to Shizuka. The others would belong to the so-called student leaders. Who, unless I missed my guess, were like the Guardians. Which would be why Kusukusu hadn't noticed and x-eggs.

"Hey, the school is this way! Come on, Mashiro-san! I'll show you." Shizuka waved at me. I walked back up to her. She looked down at her watch. The other boy was already gone. "Ah man! We're going to be late! Let's run for it!"

A couple dozen steps later, I was already huffing and puffing. "It's no good, Toshima-san. I'm not good at running."

"You're really out of shape, aren't you." Shizuka panted. She smiled at me and held out her hand. Not sure what was expected of me, I took it. Then she said it. "Character Change!"

I found myself screaming as we zoomed down streets and bounced up and down a hill, stumbling to a stop in front of the school. I put my hands to my knees for a moment, ignoring my windblown hair. The red headband that had appeared in Shizuka's hair disappeared. An orange haired chara with the same red headband and red and white sports attire had a small smile on her face, floating in the air next to her. "That was fun, Shizuka-chan."

Shizuka smiled at her chara. "Nice Job!" Then she noticed that I was still there, watching them. Kusukusu was hiding in my hair. She had grabbed on when I had started to run. "Mashiro-san, this is Sho. She represents my dream to be really fast. I'm on the track team, you know? But its not just physical speed. I hate waiting, so I want to be able to do things quickly so that people don't have to wait. Isn't that great! What about you?"

"That's great. Kusukusu." I called. She came out of my hair. "She's Kusukusu." Kusukusu laughed and went over to Sho, who scowled as fiercely as Kusukusu grinned.

"Nice to meet you, Sho-chan!"

"Nice to meet you."

The last bell started to ring and Shizuka set off running. "Bye bye, Mashiro-san! Check in with the office first though." She waved towards one side of the school. "See you later!"

"See you later!" I called after her. The bell tone rang again, and I set off in the direction of the office. At least as the new kid no one could complain if I was a little late. I could always claim getting lost, and who could dispute me? With this in mind, I took my time to study the school layout from a paper I had been given by my father. I could, of course, ask someone where something was, but it was always in my best interest to know for myself. I learned that the first time someone tried to lead me to the wrong place.

It was harmless, really. It was just a boy who wanted to kiss me, but at the time I had been scared to my wit's end. At that time I was also less skilled at using and manipulating the boys. I figured out that I really had to when I was kidnapped that time.

I hurried inside and found the office. The rude kid from earlier was sitting sullenly in one of the chairs. None of the secretaries looked up as I walked in. They probably hadn't heard me since the door was open. I called out softly. "Hello? My name is Mashiro Rima. I'm a new student."

One of the secretaries looked up. She pushed her glasses back on the bridge of her nose and looked at me. "Mashiro Rima? Give me a moment to print up your schedule. Then Miyazuki-kun will show you around. Okay, Mashiro-san?"

"Yeah." I sat down in another seat, nowhere near Miyazuki Ryashiro. Hiroshi was nowhere to be seen, but I guessed that the charas here all hung out, like the Guardians' did. Kusukusu could probably find them and join them, but not now. I didn't know the charas, really, or their bearers. I had no reason to associate with them, and neither did Kusukusu. And, I was a lot more comfortable knowing that in any trouble I had my best friend, my other self, here with me.

That was the real reason I had always kept Kusukusu with me, because I needed a friend. Because, more than just the comedy, I wanted a friend. Like Amu or Yaya. And I wanted to be a good friend for them. That's why Kusukusu was always so friendly with everyone. Because she was the personification of that wish as well.

A printer bleeped and spat out several pages. I stood up as the secretary did and she handed me the paper over the printer. "Miyazuki-kun?" She looked over to where Ryashiro was sitting. "Can you show Mashiro-san around now?"

"Yeah." He pushed himself up out of the chair and walked out of the office. I trailed a few feet behind him. The silence between him showing me the common rooms like the lunch room and the gym was stony. At the end of the terrible walk, he showed me where my homeroom was, but he stopped before he got to the door. "Mashiro Rima. After school today, go to the office. One of us'll meet you there. There's something that you will find interesting. A show, if you will. Fifteen minutes after the last bell. Sharp. Trust me when I say that it is in your best interest to be there."

Miyazuki didn't wait for a response before opening the door for me. I walked in to the first new class of the day.

The sixth grade was broken up into three homerooms. There was the blue, the red, and the green. These classes mixed for most of the rest of the classes, so they usually didn't matter. Except that when there was a competition, the teams were already drawn. It was kind of like Moon and Star classes at Seiyo. I was in green. As it turned out, I had neither Miyazuki or Shizuka in my class. They were both in blue.

I didn't pay any attention so the classes dragged by. When the last bell rang I was more than ready for the day to be over. I picked up my bag and walked over to the park. My dad was going to be angry that I didn't come straight home but for one day I could come up with an excuse.

When I got there, there were Sho, Hiroshi, Miyazuki, and Shizuka. There were also two charas and three people I did not know. Kusukusu peeked out at them from over my head while I kept a distance away from them. "Why did you want me to come here?" I wanted to glare at them, but I had more self-restraint than that.

"Mashiro-san. Sorry, but you should see this." Shizuka held out her hand to me, so I took it. Apparently that was the right move, because we all started to move. When we stopped we were inside some room with a bunch of techy wiring, monitors, and a tv. They all turned to me, as if expecting me to ask. So I did.

"What is this?"


	5. Like Brushing Teeth

**AN: So I did get something up before I left. Yay! I still have a couple days left though. Please take a look at the AN in bold on my userpage though. I'll see you all sometime!  
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Like Brushing Teeth

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><p><em>Amu's POV:<em>

I woke up to Ran's cheering and the light filtering through the shades in my room. Typical. So typical that I wasn't expecting it when instead of stepping on a soft rug and dragging myself to the closet to get dressed, I tripped over a brown still-sealed box. I was mostly unpacked by now, but some stuff was still laying around in boxes. A lot of empty brown boxes sat in messy piles of stuff around my room.

I checked my phone to see if Rima or anyone had texted me. There was one from Rima, basically saying good night. There was also one from Shuu, asking me if I could swing by to talk to him after school. I replied to Rima with a quick 'good morning' and Shuu with an even quicker 'okay' before getting up and dressed in the new uniform with the colorful plaid skirt.

My homework was done, the girls were in their eggs in my bag, and I had a piece of toast in a half-bite to hold it into my mouth until I got out of the door, my mom yelling after me to have a good day. At least some things don't change. For a moment I almost felt like I was at home, going out to meet Tadase and Rima and Yaya and Nagi at elementary school. Until my skirt caught on a bush and I remembered how it tended to catch on this particular bush because of its longer length. It went almost up to my knees and was annoying as anything.

Really, I rather liked the too-short red plaid skirt we had at Seiyo. This was not a welcome change, but still an inevitable one.

The school morning went by without a hitch. I found out that Hanako was in 1-C, and that the boy student council member in 1-B was named Ichiro. Fujimoto Ichiro. He gave me a badge that looked like theirs. When I asked, he explained that I needed that to gain entrance to the Student Council meetings. It was a sort of symbol, like the Guardian's royal capes. I found myself adding it to my shirt in spite of myself.

I met up with Hanako and a few of her friends for lunch at one of the faux-wooden picnic tables. I didn't really pay attention to their conversation, but they seemed quite the chatterboxes and nattered to themselves for the rest of the period and I went largely ignored as I wallowed waist-deep in muddy thoughts.

Thoughts of Hanako were not so forefront as thoughts of the Student Council as a whole, and their singling me out. The fact that this town seemed to have a high population of x-eggs. What was causing that anyway? That nagged at me, but I pushed it away too. How was Shuu really taking this? How was he going to react? What would he have to say to me? Then there were the thoughts of my friends. My real friends, back in Seiyo or wherever they are by now. Was Easter causing any more trouble? How was Utau faring?

How would the rest of my family react if they learned that Ami's 'Super Characters' were not only real, but that their other daughter went into battle with them?

That was the real pit of my worry. Shuu had already found out. What would happen if he spilled anything to them? What if they believed him? What would my family think if they knew what the Guardians had always struggled so hard to hide? What if Mama found out the real reason I was out late so often with the Guardians and my 'teacher'? What if she found out the real reason I had hidden Ikuto in my room for so long?

What if they disapproved?

I could see my mother's disappointed frown. My sister's tears. My dad, bawling and running for the bathroom as he 'ran away' again.

I could see the distrust in their eyes. Them never believing me or believing in me anymore. Mama always believed in me. I felt cold as I realized just how much that meant to me. Just how much my mom meant to me, and her support and approval even though she really didn't know what it was that she was approving of. I saw how unbalanced and useless I would be if she turned her back on me. Like a stool trying to stand on one leg that was on one side of it and failing.

When it came to people's heart's eggs, there would be no mistakes. There would be no failures. There couldn't be.

The bell rang loudly in my ear, heavyness settling around me like death's shroud and ringing in time with the bell. Everyone walked or skipped back, talking and laughing, with a smile on their face. I pasted one on mine that I hoped didn't look too fake and headed inside. And then it happened.

It wasn't the bell that rang, but a sort of hypnotizing gong. A low, haunting tune flooded my ears from the loudspeakers. Quickly, as quickly as I've ever seen, students fell. Their eyes turned to the otherworldly dullness that denoted x-eggs. Surely, people's chests started to bubble and ripple and in the space of a few seconds the heart's eggs of the entire student body was turned from the healthy, wonderful white with golden angel wings and halo to the dark black that starkly contrasted with a bright white X.

The x-eggs glistened in the sun and I stared for a moment, stupefied. _What the hell?_The girls peeked out of my bookbag as the first one started to crack, revealing the eyes of an x-character. That was bad, if they were becoming x-characters already. That and the fact that x-eggs were much easier to deal with in comparison to x-characters.

Miki pushed out of the bag with a worried look on her face. "Amu-chan!"

"Yeah." I replied to her unspoken question. _Can I character transform with you to take care of these x-eggs? _"My heart, unlock!" Bright lights dazzled me for a moment before they settled into the familiar pattern of sparkling, neon-ish purple and golden stars trailing gold-silver sparkles. Miki's egg re-entered my heart and I burst out of the familiar eye-killing light. "Character Transformation: Amulet Spade."

For a moment I wondered why I always felt the need to announce my character transformation, even if no one was there. Then I realized that everyone did it. Something else to look into later. For now, I had bigger fish to fry. Several other eggs started to crack. I located them and started to aim with my ridiculously large (but somehow not unwieldy) paintbrush in their direction. "Colorful Canvas!"

I took out swathes of cracking x-eggs at a time with Colorful Canvas. I got lucky that none of them fully cracked and that I had eventually taken all of them down. One burst of Open Heart later, the droves of eggs whitened out once more, and returned to their proper places. It was seriously like brushing so many teeth. Or bleaching them.

We separated from our transformation and I located Hanako and her two girlfriends. I watched as two hearts eggs went into the other girls' hearts, but none went into Hanako's. Ah well. I must have missed it, or her heart might just be really strong. Her eyes were shut, so I couldn't be sure about the dullness. I brought my hand close to her face, intending to check. Just as I was about to reach her eye, she snapped them open and blinked furiously. I blushed and used my closeness to poke her head instead. I needed a cover story, of course.

"What was that for, Hinamori-chan?" She jumped up, rubbing at the spot I had poked her at.

"Well, forgive me for wanting to make sure you were okay." I crossed my arms and angled away from her, looking at a clump of people starting to sit up. Strangely, no one seemed to notice anything was out of the ordinary and the rest of the school day passed by rather peacefully.

After school, I first met up with the Student Council. We met just where Hanako had told me to. I learned that aside from Hanako and Ichiro, the eighth grader I had met was named Omori Kinfusa. The other two were a pair of twins in the seventh grade. They were the Nakamura twins, both with tufty thick light-medium brown hair and wide honey-brown eyes. They were a girl named Junko and a boy named Benkei. Benkei apparently took pride in that he was three minutes older than Junko, and they both played around a lot.

I didn't know much of what to expect, but there was no tension in this group. They were efficient too: they did manage to sneak in a lot of work between laughing or glaring fits. At first I was a bit taken aback, but it was a comfortable atmosphere and I found myself relaxing and basking in it, giggling every once in a while at one of the twins' jokes. The only one who didn't laugh was Kinfusa, but I can't say I was surprised. Ichiro seemed to buzz with nervous energy at first, only showing shy smiles. But by the end he was laughing nearly as hard and as profusely as Hanako.

Hanako's hair was still frizzy and she still smiled more than she frowned and she seemed like someone I'd like to have as a friend. In that spirit, I let her walk me home, chatting idly with her as she pointed out various landmarks and big streets in the town. By the end of our walk, we were already starting to plan a shopping trip together. It turned out that she liked trying on new clothes nearly as much as I did and knew of some stores I might like.

Things were turning up for me and I waved goodbye reluctantly to the girl as I walked inside my house. My gloom-and-doom attitude settled again as I realized one more thing I had to face today: Shuu.

Groaning as I flopped down on the new, leathery couch after calling out my arrival to my mom, I pulled out my cell phone. There were no new texts from Shuu or Rima, but Tadase sent one. Evidently, he was leaving Seiyo today with Tsukasa. Tsukasa had retired over the summer.

It had been such an odd affair, really. None of us really thought of Tsukasa as being old at all. He was just Tsukasa: our creepy-ish, weird, quirky, semi-reliable, insightful rock of a school Chairman, Founding King of the Guardians, and Planetarium Caretaker. I know I have fond memories of the ivy-covered planetarium. And I know that I'm not the only Guardian to. Actually, I'm pretty sure that he still wears that hat. After all, who else would take on the planetarium but our star-crazed King?

But he was also Tadase's uncle, his mother's older brother. So he was, in fact, old. Old-ish. Gah, it hurts just to think of it.

I replied back to it with a good luck and a smile. Before I sent it, I stopped. Skipping a line, I wrote. _Tadase-kun, can you ask Tsukasa-san about how many x-eggs are normal and how many make the number abnormally high?_ I checked it over and sent the message.

The next one was to Rima. _Hey, can we talk? I mean, on the phone or something. Something odd happened here today, and I want a second opinion. _I thought about the x-eggs at school. That was most definitely odd. I sent that to her and put it out of mind for a moment. I took a moment to ooze down into the couch before sitting straight again.

My final text was to Shuu. _When is your break?_

The reply was almost immediate. _In fifteen. I'm just about done with a batch of dish washing._

I chewed my lip. Not a lot of time. _In twenty, then, can you meet me by the tall tree in the middle of the park?_

I knew he knew what we were going to be talking about, and I could practically taste my apprehension to talk to the Guardians after first learning about the charas. Soon enough I got his response. _kk._

He arrived twenty two minutes later, usual grin looking a bit forced on his face. We made eye contact and it disappeared entirely. He held the book under his arm, and he handed it back to me. I patted the empty spot on the bench next to me and he sat. His body was rigidly tense. I waited for him to start the conversation, not remembering what they had said to me the first time.

"So-oooo, what did you think, Shuu-nii-chan ?" I put out. It was pathetic, really, but Shuu twitched.

"I think that this chara thing doesn't make any sense." He obviously didn't know what to think, and he fiddled with his fingers and the hem of his shirt nervously. "But the egg thingy fits with the story."

This wasn't working. He was too nervous, too apprehensive. The whole point of the charas was that you weren't so self conscious, but more relaxed. More yourself than you ever had been before. My phone beeped, loud in our silence, but I ignored it. Shuu checked his watch.

Suddenly, I got a lightbulb of an idea. "Hey, Shuu-nii-chan." His face snapped towards me.

"Yes?"

"Try baking some cookies, or a simple cake. Or that delicious little strawberry thing you used to make for me." I smiled at him. "Relax a little bit. It's okay if this doesn't make any sense to you yet. It'll come, if you let it. If you want, I won't try to push you anymore. It was just that this was pretty similar to how I got introduced, except that Ran and Miki were already hatched at the time, and Su came out soon after. I was nervous too, but it ended up okay."

He looked at me with a bit of wonder and I smiled at him, playfully nudging him up from the bench. "Go!"

He nodded, somewhat dazedly at me. I nodded encouragement at him again. He turned his back after a quick goodbye, presumably on his way to make some sweets. Like he always had loved doing.

Then I stiffened. There were more x-eggs. Shuu was taken care of. Rima or Tadase or whoever could wait. There was work to be done.


End file.
